The Oceanriders Podcast

This week I got to sit down for a chat with Liv Hung. Liv is from Vancouver, her home spot is Tofino, BC but she recently co-founded an adventure experience for women called Noorish Tofino. Noorish creates wellness and wilderness adventures and experiences. They give their guests the time, space and openness to discover something new. From nurturing a deeper connection to nature, surfing, yoga, photography classes to wild hikes and more, with Noorish, the mind, body and soul is simply nourished.

This week I got to sit down for a fascinating conversation with Cris Mills. Cris has created the dream job. His work involves teaching surfers how to be better surfers. He has created his own personal brand that you may have come across online, it's called Surf Strength Coach. He's been making videos for over a decade and you'll find them all over YouTube.

I say Cris has created a dream job, because beyond doing what he loves, he also gets to travel a lot and take his clients to the most incredible waves on the planet.

Today's guest is the founder of Sea Together Magazine. Her name is Brianna Ortega. I couldn't quite tell you where she is from as she has already moved 26 times since she was little, but when I got hold of her, she was in Oregon USA. This constant nomadic existence has lead her to entertain deep relationship with the ocean. For Brianna, the ocean is her home.

Today I got to sit down for a chat with Renee Labbé. I'm so glad we finally made this interview happen as Renee and I have been chasing each other for months. Renee is originally from Canada but operates both her businesses out of her new hometown in sunny L.A. Renee is a Design Forecaster and recently launched her own personal business creating a gorgeous skin care brand called LABBE.

Today I got to sit down for a chat with Janaya Wilkins, a former marketing wizard who had a dream of creating her own luxury swimwear brand, but one with a purpose. We go through the different steps of building a swimwear business and and find out more about the extraordinary social enterprise that she has created.

Faye is a talented writer and as an official day job she is a director at one of the biggest female magazines on the planet. It’s the kind of high profile job a lot of women would die for with loads of perks and famous and interesting people to meet. But Faye has a really interesting side hustle: Après Surf Co to celebrate women's surfing in the form of an Instagram Blog.

Today, I got to sit down for a chat with Nigel McBride. Nigel is from Australia and grew up along the shores of the Pacific Ocean between Sydney and Queensland. He was invited to join the elite surfers of the Snapper Rocks Surfriders Club at the ripe age of 12 growing up in a competitive surfing environment. But fate had an other path for him, leading him through the military and out the other end as a fierce entrepreneur in the automotive industry.

He's founded and managed successful companies such as Drive My Car Rentals and www.Right2Drive.com.au but you could say that today, Nigel has returned to his passion for the ocean and created a hi-tech range of hybrid water craft between foils, SUPs and catamarans...

Today, I got to sit down for a chat with a surfing legend : Tom Wegener. I can't find the words to describe Tom that do him justice. He is just the most enthusiastic, joyous and exciting person to talk to. 

For the few unfamiliar among us, Tom Wegener is a surfer, filmmaker, actor, author, master shaper and an academic. In fact, he has collected so much wisdom on surfing and shaping over the years, he was recently awarded with a PhD on the sustainability of the surfboard industry. In this episode we get to know Tom a bit better and discuss his PhD, the discoveries he made and the sheer Aloha spirit.

This week, I got to meet up with Shell Cleave in Half Moon Bay, California. I had a lovely conversation with Shell about the NGO she founded a year ago, called Sea Hugger.

In this conversation, we discuss the reasons that lead Shell to leave working as a freelance Technical Writer for Silicon Valley giants, and to start a non profit from scratch. Shell has an amazing personality and it's incredible how much she and her fellow volunteers have achieved in such little time.

We talk about what is required to make a legitimate non profit (and be capable of receiving tax exempt donations) and the campaigns Shell is leading with Sea Hugger. We also talk about the impact plastic waste is having on our ecosystems and Shell shares some really cool tips on how to avoid using disposables in the first place.

A few weeks ago, I got to sit down for a chat with one of my favorite creatives: James Victore. James Victore is a surfer, a dirt bike rider but most and foremost he is one of the most prominent designers of his generation. He joins me today to talk about his latest book "Feck Perfuction, Dangerous Ideas on the Business of Life". This is an episode dedicated to anybody with a creative mind. It's a pep talk and a brilliant introduction to James' philosophy of life, work and art.